Highlights

  • Fans of Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line are unable to login to a game, due to a bug revolving 2024's status as a leap year.
  • Fans have speculated that the bug relates due to the game checking servers to see if any characters are celebrating a birthday, with no data for February 29 causing the game to hang.
  • Players have discovered a temporary fix for the Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line bug by changing the date on their consoles.

Fans of Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line on the Nintendo Switch are finding themselves unable to play the popular Switch rhythm game for an odd reason. The Final Fantasy rhythm game spinoff series has received multiple iterations since the original game debuted on the 3DS in 2012, allowing players to play along with their favorite Final Fantasy tunes. The series saw multiple releases on 3DS and recently welcomed its first console launch with last year's Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line on PS4 and Switch. Now, fans are finding themselves unable to log into the game for a curious reason.

Along with the game's daily missions, Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line features unique bonuses for players on a character's birthday. On the birthdays of Final Fantasy characters like Cloud or Tidus, players are rewarded with a Silver Growth Egg, which increases EXP within the game. Silver Growth Eggs are also rewarded to commemorate the anniversary of game releases within the Final Fantasy franchise. However, now, a strange bug with the game seems to have not taken leap years into account for its release.

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As reported by IGN, fans of Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line have discovered unexpected difficulties with playing the game today, unable to connect to the game's servers. While many were confused, some fans pointed out that the game checks with Square-Enix's servers to see if any characters or games are celebrating a birthday. Fans have speculated that, due to not being able to find any data for February 29, the game "hangs" and gets stuck on a "Connecting" screen when launching Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line. Players have reported that the issue can be fixed by changing the date on their console's internal clock.

Fans Unable to Play Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line

While fans find themselves unable to play Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line, the errors have seen plenty taking a jab at Square-Enix for the seemingly obvious error. Some fans initially believed the error may have been due to a corrupted save file, unaware that Square-Enix's servers could be so easily thwarted by a leap year. Other fans humorously connected the inability to access the game as a marketing move by Square-Enix to entice players to the newly-released Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

The unexpected error with Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line comes as Square-Enix debuts one of its most highly-anticipated releases. February 29 marks the release date for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth after years in development, with Square-Enix already giving fans plenty of reasons to be excited about the game. Rebirth has featured multiple demos allowing players to try out the RPG early and even recently featured in a humorous Red Bull ad starring Cloud and Sephiroth. The unexpected break from Final Bar Line will likely see many players diving into Rebirth while they wait for the rhythm game to work once again.